Anti-corruption group: Many exporters fail to punish bribes

BERLIN — Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International says more than half of global exports come from countries that regularly fail to punish bribing of foreign officials.

In its independent assessment of compliance with the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, the agency said Wednesday only 11 of 44 jurisdictions conduct active or moderate enforcement, including Germany, Israel, Britain, the U.S., Australia and Sweden. Together, the 11 account for 30.8 percent of world exports.

Thirty-three countries, accounting for 52 percent of world exports, had limited or little enforcement, including Canada, New Zealand, China, India, Japan and Ireland.

China and India aren't party to the OECD convention but are signatories to the UN Convention on Corruption which also calls for enforcement against bribery abroad.

Transparency says it's "unacceptable so much of world trade is susceptible to consequence-free corruption."